Drying-car for clay products.



PATBNTED JUNE 1a, 1907. l

W. Ru. CUNNINGHAM. DRYING CAR FOR CLAY PRODUCTS.

' APPLICATION FILED APR.1D,190.7.

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6282i hmm ,mr @f @7' UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM R. CUNNINGHAM, OF BUCYRUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO `THE AMERICAN CLAY MACHINERY CO., OF BUCYRUS, OHIO, A CORPO- RATION.

DRYlNG-CAR FOR CLAY PRODUCTS.

Patented .rune-18, 1907.

Application tiled April 10, 1907. Serial No. 367,452.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM R. CUNNING- HAM, a citizen of the United States, residing` at Bucyrus, in the county of Crawford and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Drying-Cars lfor Clay Products, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cars or vehicles designed, especially, for hacking brick for drying purposes.

The device is in the nature of a push-car and, as usual, the brick are hacked on the same and men push the loaded car into the drying tunnels and from thence into the kilns,

when the bricks are removed and the empty car is returned to the brick machine for reloading. These cars are very commonly used in connection with the manufacture of clay products, such as bricks and tiles and they are used for transporting the product of the brick or tile machine to the kilns for drying and burning purposes.

The present invention relates more particularly to the manner of mounting the journal boxes of the main axles of the car whereby the superstructure is self-adjusting relative to the supporting axles, provision being thereby made to allow the car to automatically accommodate itself to the uneven conditions of the track.

The invention consists of the parts and the constructions, varrangements and combinations of parts which I will hereinafter describe and claim. j

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in' which similar reference numerals indicate like parts in the several. views, Figure l is a perspective view of a car or vehicle embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the dotted line A-A of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the hangers and journal boxes, showing the exterior cap of the box removed.

yIn the modern brick-yard establishments, railroad tracks usually run from the brick or tile machines to the drying-tunnels and kilns and to such other parts of the yard as may be necessary or desirable. The tracks usually are made of light T-rails fixed to cross-ties which are placed either two or three feet ap art. As a rule the track is not well ballasted, if ballasted at all, consequently it is very common for the track to be uneven and to spring considerably underthe load of the weighted cars which are designed to travel thereover. These cars usually weigh about 500 pounds, and are made of light structural-steel in order to reduce the weight as low as possible to carry the load. Such a car is shown in Fig. 1 and the material used in its construction is structural-iron just as it is receivedfrom the rolling-mill, cut to,y length and riveted to- 'gether in the usual or, any appropriate man-- ner. The material of which the car is so largely composed, varies somewhat in size, and-often the parts are bent or twisted and this has its effect upon the proper or smooth running of the car. The present invention relates to the bearings in which the axles of the car are mounted, and a means whereby these bearings are appropriately hung from fixed portions of the car structure, as I will now describe. v

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the numeral 2 represents a structural steel-angle one of which forms each of the side rails of the car, as shown in Fig. 1, to which angle 2 is bolted, by bolts 4, a', the vertically disposed hanger 3, said hanger being formed with an outstanding shoulder or ledge 5 upon which the lower edge of the steel angle 2 seats.

As shown in Fig. 3, the lower portion of the hanger 3 is forked or bifurcated as shown to form the arms 6, 7, the lower ends of said arms being enlarged and bored to form bearings for the shaft or bolt 10. The fork of the hanger 3 is arched at the upper side and ink the space thus formed, and straddled by the arms 6, 7, is mounted the bearing 11 for the ljournal end of the axle 16 upon which the Y 'main bearing wheels of the vehicle are mounted.

In constructing the journal boxes V11, I prefer to bore out the insideto form a smooth surface 12, and in the annular space formed vbetween this surface and the outer surface of the axle 16, I arrange an annular series of rollers `13, thereby forming an anti-friction bearing for the journal-end of the axle. On the inner side, the journal boxes 1 1 are closed by means of the inturned lflange 14, except that an opening is left" in this flange to admit the end of theaxle 16, said flange and an appropriate cap piece 1 at theouter side of v the journal box, serving to inclose the series of rollers `and to prevent the rollers `working out of the box but allowing said rollers to rotate freely on the said track surface 12, formed around the inner circumference of the journal-box, asfthe shaft or axle 16 revolves. On one edge and on the outer periphery ofthe journal-box1l` are formed ears k17 andl 18 which are pierced with holes to admitthe bolts 2], which pass therethrough and by appropriate nutsthereby hold the cap y in` position on the journal-box and close the g outer end of said box and protect the journalend of the shaft or axle 16` 'At` the lower central portion, the journal box is formed `with a long bearing or hub 23 which is shown of sufficient length to approximately fill thel space between thelin'ner sides of the arms 6 `and 7 of the hanger 3, said hub 23 having a bore adapted to register with the bores formed in the arms of the forked hanger `whereby a bolt 10 maybe passed through.

, the arms of the hanger and through the hub 23 toforin a bearing by which the journalbox may oscillate in a direction transverse of the direction of travel of the car. This bolt .or shaft 10is secured by appropriate nuts on the outer endsv as `shown in Fig. 3.

From

, `this construction it will be observed that the w journal boxes forthe ends of the axles which carry the bearing wheels `are mounted to oscillate in, and relative to, the hangerA by which they are suspended from the fixed portions ofthe car structure, and that the said yboxes are equalizing and adjust themselves to a levelposition Without regard to the un- `evenness of the track upon which the car travels, and in this respect much better results Lare obtained than when the boxes are tion `provides for an equalizing bearing that will alwaysadjust itself to a level position, or

. i in other words, maintain the rollers 13 in perfeet alinementwith the axle of the bearing wheels, `thus lcausing the car` to run smooth ,y without regard to the unevenness of the track.

Having thus described myinvention, what `I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a vehicle, "the combination withythe body thereof, the `axle and `bearing wheels thereon, of a journal-box in which each end of theaxle is turnable, a vertically-forked `to the vehicle body, and a j ournal-box havling a hub on its lower side pivotally mounted in the lower part of the fork of the hanger and adapted to oscillate transverse thereof.

3. The combination of a fixedly-secured hanger having a centrally disposed opening in its lower portion, a bolt in the lower portion of the hanger and extending across the opening therein, anda journal-box within the opening of the hanger having a hub on its lower side receiving said bolt whereby the box may oscillate transversely of said bolt.

L1.` The combination of a fixedly-secured' hanger having a bifurcated lower portion forming two arms, said4 arms having holes therein axially in line, a bolt tting said holes and extending transversely across the ed in the opening of the hanger `and having al hub-portion on its under side, said hub-portion being contained between the arms formed by the bifurcation of the hanger and being pivotally mounted on said bolt, whereby it may oscillate transverse thereof, said box having a removable cap-plate over its outer side and having an inturned flange on its inner side with an opening to receive an axle or shaft, and an annular series of rollers within the box and retained longitudinally in place by said cap-plate and inturned flange.

6. A vehicle of the character described `having in combination a body with angleirons extending along the sides thereof, hangers fixed to said angle-irons and having bifurcated lower portions, axles having bearing wheels upon which the body is supported, and journal-boxes mounted in the bifurcatedportions of the hangers and receiving the ends of the axles, said boxes having `roller-bearings and having lower portions pivotally hung within the bifurcated por- IOO tions of the hangers whereby the boxes l my hand n presence of two subscribing witosollate relative to the hangers and in response to unevenness of the surface over which the vehicle travels, and the alnement of the roller-bearings with the axles is maintained.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set nesses. y 4 v WILLIAM R. CUNNINGHAM.

Witnesses @ORA HOFFMAN, J. S'. DE LASHMUTT. 

